Guardiola makes Liverpool four-word PL title prediction; backs shock City star to ‘become best’ in world

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has made a Liverpool prediction amid claims that they are “done” and won’t win the Premier League title this season. There has been a significant swing in the Premier League title conversation of late. In the opening weeks of this season, Liverpool cemented themselves as the firm favourites to win back-to-back titles by winning their first five matches after investing over £400m in the summer as the biggest spenders in Europe. However, the Reds have subsequently slumped into a mini-crisis by losing four matches in a row across all competitions to fall from the top of the Premier League title. In the meantime, Arsenal and Man City have gone on winning runs to move up to first and second in the Premier League table after eight matches. Now, Guardiola has commented on Liverpool’s recent struggles and insisted that “they will be back”. When asked whether he thinks Man City are flying under the radar in the Premier League title race this season, Guardiola jokingly replied: “Well, in the first two games, three games, yeah for sure we [City] are out. READ: Who will win the Premier League title? Liverpool, not Arsenal, apparently… “And Liverpool is already done, and now it looks like Liverpool is done. And I’ll tell you that they will be back. “I’ve said many times, I know all the pundits, all the specialists or former players, they know everything that is going to happen after five games, I’m not able to do that. “So, always I wait for 10, 15 games to know exactly what is going on. But I think obviously Liverpool and Arsenal are there, someone else will be there, hopefully we can be there.” Man City have been carried by Erling Haaland this season, though Guardiola has also been impressed by Matheus Nunes. Guardiola has even backed him to “become one of the best” right-backs in the world as he “can be incredible”. “He can be an incredible right-back,” Guardiola said when praising Nunes. MUST-READ FEATURES ON F365… 👉 Big Weekend: Brentford v Liverpool, Man United, Eberechi Eze, Thomas Frank, El Clasico 👉 Man Utd top Premier League five-year net spend table after 2025 window 👉 Mikel Arteta only third in Premier League manager rankings for 25/26 “Matheus is a holding midfielder with incredible physicality and as much as he is focused, he can become one of the best [right-backs]. “It’s a question of him now as we talk a lot about that. It’s just change your mind and feel that [you can be there]. “He has special attributions to play in the sides, and in the last two or three games he has played unbelievable.” This weekend, Man City travel to face Aston Villa and Villa Park, so Guardiola has explained why he thinks his side have struggled against Unai Emery’s team in recent outings. “They were much better than us the last two fixtures we played at Villa Park. Hopefully it will be different on Sunday,” Guardiola said. “The admiration I have for Unai is so high. He’s incredibly consistent, well prepared and so smart. “At Aston Villa, I know they are not in the Champions League this season for one point. Last season for me, they were Champions League [quality], they created a lot of problems for the champions PSG. “They are well organised, quality, one of the toughest away games we have in the season. Defensively they are really good, from set pieces also and I have the feeling he improved a lot in terms of the build up. With the keeper they have it is so difficult to control the pressing and they bring a lot of players in the middle. “The connection between them is really good, they break the lines with the strikers and when that happens they are so quick, attacking quick with the speed they have up front. The physicality is really good. “Pre-season is over, the season sometimes you start slowly in terms of results but they have done a lot in the Premier League that has been really good.”